Employment pension schemes pushed general government’s
net financial assets into growth in the first quarter of 2017

At the end of the first quarter of 2017,
general government's net financial assets, i.e. the difference
between assets and liabilities, amounted to EUR 118.8 billion. Net
financial assets rose by EUR 4.4 billion from the previous quarter.
The net financial assets of employment pension schemes and other
social security funds grew by a total of EUR 6.1 billion. Local
government's net financial assets remained almost unchanged but
central government's net financial assets declined by EUR 1.96
billion. These data derive from general government financial
accounts compiled by Statistics Finland.

General government’s net financial
assets

Central government's net financial assets fell by EUR 1.96
billion from the previous quarter's level, being EUR -69.3 billion
at the end of the quarter. Central government's assets rose by EUR
0.17 billion and liabilities by EUR 2.1 billion, which resulted in
a clear decrease in net financial assets. Among central
government’s assets, deposits increased by EUR 0.7 billion
and long-term loan receivables decreased by EUR 1.5 billion during
the first quarter.

At the end of the first quarter of 2017, local government's net
financial assets amounted to EUR -3.5 billion. Changes in both
liabilities and assets have been moderate. At the end of the first
quarter, the stock of long-term loans stood at EUR 16.4 billion.
Since the end of 2016, the stock of long-term loans has contracted
by EUR 0.2 billion.

Employment pension schemes' net financial assets grew by EUR 5.6
billion in the first quarter of 2017. EUR 1.9 billion more assets
were invested in mutual fund shares on net, in addition to which
employment pension schemes gained EUR 2.8 billion in holding gains
from them. The stock of share investments increased by EUR 1.3
billion mainly thanks to holding gains. The total amount of assets
invested in debt securities decreased by EUR 1.3 billion over the
quarter and the deposit stock rose by EUR 1.1 billion.

The net financial assets of other social security funds grew by
EUR 0.5 billion from the situation at the end of the year and stood
at EUR 1.2 billion at the end of the first quarter. The rise was
mainly due to the growth in deposits. In addition, the stock of
short-term debt securities issued by social security funds
diminished.